My Weakness
by HybridKiller
Summary: It was her fate, to find herself pinned against her greatest weakness. When a simple plea turns into more than she can bargain for, Hinata is lost in a battle she cannot win. How can a simple misconception hurt so much? [Oneshot]


**Authors Note:** This takes place somewhere around episodes 150-200. But, it only vaguely mentions the chuunin exams. So, if you haven't gotten that far, I think you can probably read this story with no problems at all.

**Rating:** It's rated for some harsh language and some pretty grotesque themes. If you're under the age of 14, I would suggest not reading it…but that's really up to you. I can't physically stop you.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto; I'm not even doing this for my own health…no sue please…

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My Weakness

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A small twig snapped under Hinata's foot. She paused for a moment, before assessing her surroundings. When the humble appearance of an old oak tree and a flurry of pink and green petals caught her gaze, the Hyuga nodded her head in approval. She gracefully walked over to the oak and sat against it. Hinata reluctantly glanced up at the night sky, before she let the lights overtake her thoughts.

It was Naruto's face shining brightly in her mind that caught her attention. As she imagined his jovial smile, her fingers subconsciously traced his outline in the soil before her. It was all she could do to stifle the embarrassment that awakened every time she thought of him. Somehow—just by depicting his face upon the ground—it made everything seem all right.

The more the picture grew into an ill-formed blob of hair and messy clothes, the more Hinata sighed to herself. With her luck, no matter what she tried, something would always go wrong. Whether it ended in pain, confusion or utter embarrassment, she knew one thing for certain. Naruto got one step farther from her grasp every day that passed her by. This was the story of her life.

Hinata glanced up from her drawing to stare at the moon. Normally, her inability to communicate with Naruto didn't weigh so heavily upon her heart. But this time, the Hyuga was unable to ignore the blatantly obvious pain in her stomach. Her pride had been crushed and she had no way to fix the pain.

She let her eyes wander across the ferns and flowers that grew around her. It would have been so much easier, had she born into a blossom instead of a human. It was freedom that Hinata ultimately lacked: the freedom from her parents, from her friends and from her own self-consciousness. A flower has none of these traits to wither them down. A flower is free to shine upon the world with their bright and beautiful colors. And when the going gets tough, they can slowly withdrawal into themselves and hide away until they're ready to face the world once more. But no matter how hard Hinata wished, she was not this plant-like creature. No matter how hard she wished, she would have to wake up the next morning and realize what had happened in the past would slowly haunt her in the future.

Hinata sighed, letting her thoughts phase months into the past, reliving what had happened to her. Excluding her typically silent but dependable cousin Neji, she had been given the opportunity to spend the entire time with the boy of her dreams. But it disgraced her to realize, she had not made a single attempt to speak with Naruto the whole time. After what had been a three-month mission and an endless supply of chances to get to know Naruto, Hinata's timid behavior had left her with nothing.

A tear slid down Hinata's cheek and splashed across Naruto's outlined face. She bit her bottom lip before leaping up from her position and wiping the remaining tear-trails out of her eyes. She couldn't let either of the boys know she had been crying now, especially not on their day of celebration. Naruto and Neji had been so happy that their mission had gone a complete success; she couldn't bear to ruin their mood. But regardless, Hinata felt horrible.

"The mission had gone just as planned… and once again, I was useless…"

Hinata shuddered, when she saw the moon bury itself deep beneath a sea of clouds in the sky. She would have to head for camp soon, no matter how much it pained her to realize she couldn't stay here forever. No doubt her teammates would eventually get worried if she stayed out too late. The Hyuga reluctantly jumped from her resting position and started to walk towards their camp. Then she turned her head and stared back at the place she had temporarily called her sanctuary.

As her parting gift to the understanding serene forest floor, Hinata bowed before the trees and plants and offered her silent thanks. She then sighed to herself.

"Perhaps someday," she bitterly whispered to the fern sitting adjacent to her hand drawn picture, "I might be able to prove myself to the one I love most…Maybe someday, I will have courage…and I won't be such a failure…" With her head hung low, Hinata slowly walked back to her camp.

As fate would have it, she was not alone. A dark figure peaked through the trees and overheard her plea.

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"To think, we're finally done with this stupid mission!" Naruto jumped up in the air, smiling sheepishly towards his home village. Konoha stood in all its glory roughly three hours in the distance.

The boy ran in the direction of his residence, but stumbled to a quick halt when he looked behind him. Hinata and Neji were walking at a snail's pace, completely disregarding his rush to be home.

"Aww, come on guys!" He looked over to Hinata's face—then Neji's—before sighing to himself. Naruto hung his head towards the ground in a defeated fashion. "But…it's so close…"

Neji playfully scoffed in his direction, "Enough, Naruto. We'll get there when we get there. There's no need to rush. Besides…Konoha deserves a little more peace, before you show up."

Naruto crossed his arms and grumbled to himself, suppressing a childish smile. "That's easy for you to say, you don't have friends that will die without your company! Well…you don't have any friends period!" Naruto stuck his tongue out at Neji, before dodging the Hyuga's fist.

The two lightheartedly insulted each other for a while longer, until they came to a small clearing. The second Naruto's foot dropped into the dry soil, a large shiver ran down his neck and ended at his knees. Perhaps his nervousness was due to the fact that they were still miles away from Konoha Square and his favorite Raman shack, but—whatever the case—Naruto felt uneasy about their new course of travel. It had been a path specifically picked out by Neji, but more importantly, a path he had never traveled before. It was very secluded and almost impossible to see from the main road. Naruto shrugged his fears off, assuming this insight was just a wave of cool air.

The three ninja traveled down the long, narrow and shrub free earth at a slow pace. Their newfound speed was something else that caught Naruto's eye. For some reason, Neji had slowed to a near stop. The second Naruto noticed this; he got ready for the worst. Had some sort of enemy ninja followed them that he didn't notice? It would explain his sudden change of direction and speed, at the very least.

Neji stopped abruptly in his tracks and glanced behind his back. His sudden seriousness caught Hinata and Naruto's full attention. The calm prodigy's voice broke their silence. "I think we're being watched."

Naruto glanced up at Neji. Neji's voice had been sharp and rough. Naruto shrugged his shoulders in the prodigy's direction and glanced over at Hinata. "I didn't see anything…but I did feel a little weird. How about you, Hinata? See anything strange?"

With her mouth open wide to respond, Neji abruptly cut her off before Hinata could attempt to make conversation, "You two stay here, I think I heard movement from behind us. I'll check it out." Neji casually walked in the direction he had indicated with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He walked though a thin layer of bushes and trees before his body disappeared from sight.

Naruto looked back at where Neji had been standing, and then looked over to where he had disappeared. He glanced back at Hinata, deciding to reiterate himself. "Err…You ever heard of an attack so close to Konoha?"

Hinata shook her head. She had been just as confused as Naruto was. After all, what could the noise possibly be? It's not like it was an enemy ninja. They were much too close to Konoha to fear any real threat. Surely no ninja was stupid enough to attack them on their own soil…right? Whether they were stupid enough or not, Hinata pleaded to herself that they weren't.

The two waited nearly five minutes, until Naruto got fed up with his delay. He shouted at the top of his lungs: "Come on, Neji! There's nothing there! You're just hearing things! False alarm!" But as he took a single step forward, a modified kunai flew through the air and struck him in his right shoulder.

Deep in Hinata's chest, her heart started to pound at a rapid pace. Panic grew inside her, wondering what could possibly be going on. But before she could blink—and before she could even consider how strong her enemy would have to be in order to single-handedly defeat Neji—another kunai struck Naruto at his left shoulder.

The amount of time it took Hinata to make a single step forward in a full-on race towards Naruto, a third kunai hit its mark and a fourth followed instantly after. To his right and left limbs respectively, the two blades hit Naruto an inch above his knees.

A shadowed figure stepped out from where Neji had once been. Hinata's run slowed to a perplexed stop. Her blood turned ice cold, when her eyes gazed back at their attacker. It was Neji. She tried to open her mouth to speak, to call out and demand a reason why he had attacked Naruto, but she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, the words wouldn't form. They just didn't make any sense in her overloading brain.

Never before had her honor-bound cousin been so unfaithful. Even before the chuunin exams, he would have ignored any differences to accomplish the mission at hand…and they were still on a mission! Plus, he had shown no reason to hate Naruto. The way they were acting earlier, she would have bet her own life they were best friends.

A tear slid down her face, when she saw Naruto's body drop to the ground. Time seemed to speed back up to its normal pace. Hinata ran towards Naruto as fast as she could, trying to help him in any way she could. But before she could move much farther, Neji threw two more blades. They struck Hinata at her thighs.

Once more, her mind tried to process what was going on. He had been so nice and kind just a day before. Ever since those chuunin exams, he had finally understood her. He had done anything he could to help her manage her father and ignore the failures she always brought. He had been her big brother. And now that her brother was gone…she felt suddenly very lost.

Neji glanced at the wide-eyed girl. He calculated she was roughly seven and a half feet away from Naruto. He had to keep her from Naruto at all times. He took from his weapon's pouch another customized kunai. They had been designed with a narrower tip to inflict shallower wounds, but to increase the amount of pain. With proper precision, the blades were significantly less fatal.

He assessed his stock of knives and relished in the fact that he hadn't used half of them. He noticed a sign of movement from Hinata and waited for what he thought might be her attack. But instead, he saw Hinata's frail stature drop to her knees. Disregarding her completely, he looked over to his _real_ threat. The one who would make or break his entire objective: the demon boy.

Naruto used his remaining strength to attempt to flip over on his stomach. Neji was slightly impressed by the amount of energy the boy still had. After all, Neji wouldn't have been able to pull this plan off had he not disabled Kyuubi the night before. His attack on Naruto's chakra system while he slept was not a permanent modification by any means. Instead, his job had been only to temporarily keep Naruto from using the demon's power.

The blond successfully rolled onto his side, fighting the unseen fatigue of being Kitsune-less. After all, Naruto had never dealt with pain without the arrogant creature there to numb it. He had relatively no idea that Neji had disabled his chakra flow. He instead focused on the more obvious question at hand. Why had only four strikes effectively defeated him?

In the past, he had managed much more before falling down in defeat. Naruto shrugged under another surge of pain. His mind toyed with the idea of who his attacker really was. In reality, if anyone could take him out in four attacks, it would definitely be Neji.

When Naruto pushed himself onto his side, he had chosen to rollover towards his right shoulder. Neji saw this attempt to get up and quickly drew another blade. Where a single kunai had rested towards his right side; a second one slammed in hardly half an inch away. Naruto grit roughly against his teeth and let out a clenched growl, before slamming on his back in bitter pain.

This time, a small and timid voice broke the ominous silence. "W-why…why are you doing this?"

Choosing his words carefully, Neji replied back. "Isn't it obvious, Hinata-sama?" He paused for a second, assessing her reaction to his words. Her eyes glittered with confusion.

With a sigh, Neji began to explain. "Well? Have you made any attempt at stopping me? You are the Hyuga heiress. You are the defender of our clan and of our village. You sit there, holding within you the fortune of perfect blood, yet you have not made a single attempt towards fulfilling your name. You have let the boy next to you come to harm and you have not tried to stop me."

He glanced at the girl and read her eyes. She still didn't get it, so he decided on a more direct path. "To put it bluntly: Hinata-sama, you are a disgrace to our name."

Hinata was taken back by his rough tone. His words were completely unexpected. What had possessed Neji to change so abruptly? Not even a week ago, they were training and enjoying life as non-blood brother and sister. She meant to say more, but the sight of Neji taking out another kunai caught her words in her throat. "…H—uh?"

"Let me reiterate myself. Look at Naruto before you. He's a boy of no clan; a boy with no image to uphold besides the image he wishes to create. It took five kunai for me to keep him down, and he still won't give up. Even now, he wishes to fight. Even now, he's trying to defend you, my heiress. Now look at yourself. You, born of strong blood and limitless power, have fallen helpless by two."

She tried to speak, but Neji raised his voice to cut her off. "Hinata-sama, are you really this weak?"

She bit her bottom lip, and looked down at the knives still in her legs. She then looked at the boy she couldn't save. He was still trying to get to his feet. Then she glanced down at her own position: she was slouched over and almost kneeling to abolish the pain. The stress of her leg muscles equally distributed her weight, to isolate the pain in her quadriceps. She couldn't begin to imagine the pain Naruto must be in, especially after watching him put so much stress on each of his wounds.

Hinata looked up at her cousin. He was right, wasn't he? She could imagine Naruto in her place, standing with only two blades obstructing his ambitions and goals. There's no way two knives could stop Naruto from being Hokage or protecting a friend. Had Naruto been the one standing in her stead, he would have fought. There wouldn't be any self-pity on his end. He certainly wouldn't let Neji mock him. In fact, she knew there would be a brutal fight, and his determination would probably lead to his win. Hinata lowered her head in shame; she had not even begun to fight, but her weakness had already shown her loss.

Again, the boy flashed in her mind's eye. He had absolutely no hope of rising after Neji's attack. But that Naruto, that inane boy who dominated her whole life, kept trying. A blaze of courage grew within her when her mind flashed to her wish the past night. This was her chance. She could finally prove her worth. Naruto was still awake and capable of watching what was going on. It was finally her turn to prove everyone wrong and be the savior she had always wanted to be. This was her light to shine, and she had to make sure she wouldn't miss this chance. Hinata defiantly looked towards her cousin.

Neji's words repeated in her head. Was she always this weak? The words came out of her mouth in a blind frenzy, giving her little control over what she said: "N-no, I am not always weak. L-leave Naruto out of this."

At her response, Neji smiled. "Then prove it, Hinata-sama." He bowed before her, before he casually walked to where she was standing. In her slouched position, she had to crank her neck up to look into his eyes. Before she could make any attempt to defend herself, he roughly shoved her to the ground. Hinata landed on her back.

In a rough command, she heard his voice break through her slight dizziness. "Get on your feet and prove you are worthy to be my heiress."

Hinata put all of her weight on her hands and jumped to her feet. It had been her signature determination that decided she would no longer let Neji push her around. But when her feet fully touched the ground, she realized she had miscalculated an important aspect of her willpower. Her quadriceps screamed out in pain, now having to work extra to fight against her wounds and maintain balance. She tried to ignore the pain, but it had throbbed so violently that she lost her poise.

The helpless Hyuga fell from the air and slammed on her butt. She then winced in pain at yet another aching body part. Hinata mentally wrote 'tailbone' under her newly created list of 'Body Parts to Remember Before Acting All Tough and Doing Something Stupid.' When she looked back to her cousin, her eyes quickly glanced away. She couldn't bear to look him directly in the face as an equal.

Hinata felt her pride burn in a way she never felt before, having made an absolute fool of herself in front of the two people she wished to impress most of all. Even when she thought about the pain her now aching tailbone and quadriceps caused, she found her mental anguish severely outweighing that physical pain.

"How can I hold my head up high now…having been defeated by my own two feet?" Hinata mentally sighed silently to herself. "They probably think I'm a joke…a pathetic little girl who doesn't deserve to be a ninja. Neji's right, I can't do anything right…" She winced when her mind ran head first into Neji's name. "N-neji…"

Neji had always been there for her. He had always backed her up when her father figuratively pushed her down. He had always given her a second chance. And even if she had never physically proved her strengths, he had always acknowledged she had something special within her, without demanding to see results.

Fighting back her chance to stay on the ground and cry, the raven-haired girl decided to try once more to get on her feet. This time, she went slower than before. She placed her hands behind her back and pushed up, extending her elbows fully and raising her body off the ground. Then, using her arms to keep her body in the air, she flipped over to a push up position and lightly pulled herself to her feet. She almost managed to get to her feet, when the pain in her legs began to burn. Ignoring the igniting pain the best she could, Hinata tried to stand in a slouched position, mimicking the way she stood at the beginning of the fight.

Before she could establish balance in her stance, Neji smiled. He shoved her harshly to the ground once more. When the world stopped spinning, Hinata found herself on her butt once again. This time, her only saving grace was it wasn't her fault. A tear escaped Hinata's right eye and frustration boiled in her stomach. "How could he? I tried so hard to prove myself! I tried so hard! But he wont even give me a chance…w-what happened to you, my cousin?"

In an antagonizing manor, his words repeated in her mind again. "Hinata-sama, are you really this weak?"

Remembering his words was the final straw that destroyed her composure. She had been broken and defeated. The withdrawn and quiet girl hesitantly asked the question her heart needed to hear: "W-why…? What are you trying to prove with me?—That I'm weak and pathetic? W-why do you have to prove what…we already know…"

"Not all questions have answers, Hinata-sama." In the most sincere way possible, he looked her directly in the eyes and smiled. It was the smile of brotherly love; the smile an older brother might give to his younger sister after saving her from harm. It was the very smile she needed to see so much, yet she realized there was one difference. The smile didn't come from her friend—her brother.

The way he smiled at her mimicked the friend she used to adore. It was this action that proved to her, once in for all, that the being before her really was Neji and not someone else. When this realization hit, she felt her sanity collapse. She could no longer hide behind the notion that it was some enemy ninja in disguise. Now, Hinata knew her cousin was truly different. He was disgusting.

Enraged by his betrayal, Hinata grabbed the knife in her right leg and pulled it out. Her eyes blazed with rage as she threw the kunai towards Neji with as much strength as she could muster. Neji caught the blade in midair.

With more force than he intended, he threw it back at the girl. It struck the exact same wound that knife had originally created. Hinata's eyes opened wide with pain, before she clenched them shut. It was in that moment, that Hinata wished Neji didn't have near-perfect aim.

Naruto watched the scene unfold around him. A surge of anger ran through him, temporarily numbing his agony. With pure adrenaline alone, he got up on his hands and knees and attempted to stand. Neji caught his movement out of the corner of his eyes and quickly silenced it. Two more kunai sailed through the air and struck Naruto in his left shoulder and right leg respectively. The blades hit him less than half a centimeter away from where the past knives stood. Naruto didn't stand a chance against his newfound pains. He dropped to one knee and swore under his breath, trying to refuse the tempting invitation of gravity.

Hinata watched a streak of blood fly from Naruto's wounds as he crumpled over in pain. Her eyes went blank and her heart fluttered in defeat. She couldn't stand it; she couldn't handle watching Naruto in any more pain. "Stop! Please! Leave him alone. This is about me, not him…leave him alone, dammit!"

Neji looked from the beaten boy to the defeated girl at his feet. "Stop? With all due respect, Hinata-sama, but can you make me?"

She attempted to answer his question, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She knew she physically couldn't stop him. She knew even if she was full healed and he was the one with kunai wounds in his legs, she wouldn't stand a chance. With reversed roles and pain that continued to boil in her knees, she didn't need to be told that she was at his mercy. Ignoring her already aching pride, Hinata did the only thing she knew she could do. She begged again. "Please…I-I can't fight you, my cousin."

Neji raised an eyebrow. He knew his cousin was weak, but he had assumed she was at least strong enough to make an attempt to fight. He took this moment of peace to hint at a possible resolution. It was time to get his plan in action. "Tell me, Hinata-sama. If the heiress cannot defend herself, even in the direst of circumstances, does she deserve to live?"

Hinata didn't answer. But Neji saw her eyes painfully stare back at him. It was enough feedback for him to continue.

"Is it not the job of the heiress to defend her clan, no matter who her enemy might be? More importantly, isn't it her job to defend the people most precious to her, no matter the cost?"

She slowly nodded her head.

"Then tell me, can you physically say you are able to do this? If I was to walk over to a precious person that you hold dear and threaten to take his life, could you stop me?"

Hinata's eyes went wide. "Y-you d-don't m-mean…"

Neji turned his back on her and walked toward the direction of Naruto. Hinata's heart stopped and she felt sick to her stomach. A hint of metal encased her saliva as she tried to swallow the breath of air she had been holding in. To her dismay, her sickness grew worse when Neji spoke again.

"You've failed to defend yourself, Hinata-sama. But maybe you will try harder if you have the encouragement of someone to defend. Perhaps, if that person is Naruto, you will make the required effort to be our Heiress."

He stopped when he came roughly a foot away from Naruto's kneeling position. The orange-clad boy glared up at Neji and made an attempt to attack, but the prodigy moved just passed his reach.

Hinata felt helpless. She made no attempt to suppress the tears that freely fell from her eyes. She knew she was weak, but she had wished to address the problem on her own. Right now, Neji made her feel worthless. He made her feel like a disappointment to the entire clan. But none of those reasons explained why she cried. Her tears fell because she knew she would be both the reason and the result of the coming pain Naruto was sure to feel. She looked up at her cousin, waiting to see what he would demand of her now. Hinata had completely abandoned the will to rebel against the one she once called friend.

He took out another knife and aimed it at Naruto. He made no attempt to attack the vulnerable boy. Instead, the prodigy used the blade to taunt them both.

"Please, leave him alo…"

He abruptly cut her off, "I will ask you again. Can you stop me?"

She lowered her head to stare at a piece of grass by her feet. She felt her hair fall limply in front of her face. Her voice was a hushed whisper, unable to look him in the face: "N-no…I-I cannot fight my cousin."

"The Hyuga clan does not give up, Hinata-sama. And I will not let you be an exception to this rule. So I will make myself clear. If you have given up now, you have killed this boy." Neji paused a moment, before glancing over to the boy in orange. "Sadly—It seems the boy at my feet is a better representation of our clan than the heiress herself." He paused again to let his words sink into her head. "It's a travesty. The heiress is unwilling to defend her own friends." He raised the blade with every intention to strike, but paused when he saw Hinata attempt to get to her feet.

She struggled, but she managed to sit up straight and regain as much courage as she could. "W-what do you want me to do…to save him?"

"I apologize, but if you will not fight…there is nothing you can do. Instead, I will give you another option. I warn you now, Hinata-sama; there is only one thing that shall keep me from killing this boy. And that is the life of another."

Her small glimpse of confidence instantly ruptured. "T-the l-life of a-another?" She audibly squeaked as she held her breath. Hinata knew what Neji meant by that. But her mind was at a standstill. Could she sacrifice her own life for someone else? She wasn't sure. In her dreams, she had always envisioned a romantic tale of herself overcoming her fears and saving the day. But when the reality struck, her mind painfully buzzed itself into destruction. Could she really do such a thing?

Hinata opened her mouth to speak, when her eyes glanced down at the boy on the ground. At once her mind stopped and she saw the pool of blood surrounding Naruto. Her Naruto. It was her fault he had been forced into so much pain. She knew she had to do whatever it takes to get him out.

"T-then…I…" She was unexpectedly cut off by the blond haired ninja clad in an orange jumpsuit that stood up off the ground.

"No, Hinata…you can't do that. Run away and get help or something. But don't fucking listen to him…this bastard's lying and you know it."

"But Naruto…I can't leave you…"

Naruto bit his tongue. "…You're that arrogant? You're a Hyuga and they need you a hell of a lot more than I do. They need you to protect against sick fucks like this one here. So don't take pity on me; I don't want it. Let me deal with him. He's my problem, not yours. Just get away while you still can."

Naruto looked up at her and smiled his clichéd big, cheesy grin. "Besides, I should have killed this piece of shit at the chuunin exam! I won't let him hurt you…and I certainly won't let you give up your life when nobody needs to die." His mind continued to think what he dared not say. "…Especially when you have friends and family to miss you when you're gone…"

This response caught Neji off guard. It was much more forceful and sensible than he had planned. What if she took his advice and ran away now? It would ruin everything and he would have no way to explain his actions. He feared for the worst. But before Neji could attempt to make Hinata ignore the words Naruto had said, he noticed something that sparked his interest.

Hinata had risen once more to her feet. She made no attempt to attack the prodigy out of her reach, but she stared him down just the same. In her mind, she spoke to herself, "…he still won't give up. Then…n-neither will I. I will not let him…k-kill…N-Naruto."

At this sight, Neji smiled. Maybe Naruto didn't hurt his plan after all. He ignored the battered Naruto and focused his attention on Hinata. He walked towards her and stopped before her raised figure. Then, he moved faster than her eyes could follow.

His hand grabbed her throat roughly and he raised her into the crystal blue sky. She struggled against his grip, but she couldn't free herself. She tried to kick him. Then she remembered the shearing pain in her leg. At one second, she had been so confident. The next, she felt utterly helpless against his grasp.

"Hinata-sama, do you not remember our deal? Your life…or the boy's. I will let you free when you tell me to kill Naruto."

He threw her roughly to the ground. He let her body skid slightly on the dirt and fully situate itself before he made his first attack. Neji threw a kunai that struck her left arm. He threw another kunai that hit an inch lower down her arm. And then another, until a row of four blades trailed one after another against her flesh.

She screamed aloud in pain, unable to feel any movement in her limb. He pulled out another dagger, and threw it towards her right arm. When it struck, she felt the pain boil over to a level she couldn't stand. She could feel every fiber in her skin rip apart and bleed. She felt the chilled metal slice through the layer of skin and fat, digging deeper into the side of her bicep. And when it finally struck her bone and stopped moving any further, another blade that fell inches before the last caught her attention. It was unbearable. Her whole world became focused solely around envisioning kunai after kunai striking her flesh and marring up her skin.

She tried to bite her tongue to relocate her pain, but it didn't help. She found out she had already been biting her tongue in the first place, and now she bit deeper than she intended. Hinata could taste her own blood filling her mouth, drowning her in a taste of acrid metal that threatened to make her choke. She was dizzy and the taste of metal grew so pungent and bitter that she gagged. She tried to spit out the taste, but another kunai struck her arm causing her to slam back on the ground and roughly swallow the blood.

She gagged again. She was past the point of tears as the pain continued until she couldn't handle it any longer. His words repeated in her mind. "I shall let you free when you tell me to kill Naruto."

His voice repeated once more, and then again and again to match each time a new blade burrowed against its mark. She had to make it stop. Her self-control was shattered. She had to end the pain. Neji got what he wanted when her voice filled his ears.

"…K-kill…N-Naruto…" she whimpered as the pain slowly came to a halt. She watched him walk away. Then Hinata cried and cried as the world stopped focusing on her wounds and realization came crashing down. She had asked him to kill her crush…and she would never be able to live with herself again.

Neji stopped at Naruto's body, giving Hinata a chance to view a knife in the middle of his chest. Somewhere in her agony, Naruto must have tried to help her. He must have tried to stop Neji and failed. "Even N-Naruto f-failed." She never stood a chance.

His voice broke Hinata out of her thoughts. "Hinata-sama, is there anything you'd like to tell him before you lose the chance forever?"

How could she tell him now? How could she tell Naruto of her crush? She just begged Neji to kill him! She shook her head weakly. She couldn't bring herself to say such words. They would only pain Naruto more. She might as well let his death be peaceful, even if she had to live the rest of her life in guilt.

Neji slowly shook his head back and forth, as he walked to the still body of Naruto. He considered the consequences of throwing the knife at his stomach. He had missed all major organs, but he had done a little more damage than he originally intended. At least it kept him from interfering further.

He grabbed Naruto's neck and raised him off the ground. He then took his last remaining kunai and held it to Naruto's throat. In one swift motion, the blade moved across Naruto's throat and he roughly cast the body aside. Naruto landed on his stomach, forcing every kunai inside him to push to its side and rip every wound open.

A rush of blood puddled around Naruto. Hinata screamed at the sight and sobbed. Now she regretted everything she had ever done. She wanted to take back her words; she wanted to let Neji torture her for an eternity to get her Naruto back. But it was too late. She had failed her job as heiress and had lost the one she loved most because of it.

Neji looked over at her. "You best tell him before he dies…it's the least you could do."

She couldn't look Naruto in the face. Her crush was going to leave her forever. He would never make Hokage. He would never finish the one dream he wanted more than life itself. And it was all her fault. Tears screamed down her face as she stared at his body.

"N-Naruto! I'm so sorry! I-I…I never wanted this to happen…I-I loved you… please... don't die…oh god please, don't die!"

---

Neji walked over to an oak tree and sat down beside it. He let his back rest peacefully against its bark, and he crossed his arms over his chest. Casually, her cousin replied back, "Oh, by the way, he's not dead. I never cut his throat. Naruto will be just fine."

The emotions of pain, fear, confusion, embarrassment and relief filled her one after another. She went to say something, but her hope overwhelmed her already lightheaded world. Before Neji could take the time to blink, the girl fell roughly to the ground and passed out. Neji shrugged to himself. He figured that was coming eventually. Whether it would have been from a lack of blood or pure utter embarrassment, he knew she would faint soon enough.

Neji looked up towards the sky. He knew he would have to move soon to keep his friends from bleeding to death. But he chose to relax for a second. He still had time to spare. After all, Naruto's fox should be kicking in right about now anyway. Hopefully the beast's healing power will keep him from sustaining too much damage. And Hinata…he had made sure her wounds were shallow enough to allow even the most minor of healing Jitsus to remove them. He figured the two certainly weren't in any sort of risk at all.

Instead, Neji let his head rest upon the oak he had chosen and he stared up at the skies above. Through his minds eye, he sensed the presence of a flock of birds behind him. Using Byakugan to envision them, he counted seven birds in all. Subconsciously, he let his finger softly trace the number seven in a blotch of messy soil before him

Ignoring the birds and his hand drawn symbol, he spoke aloud to himself. "They say the path to hell is paved with good intentions…it's obvious I will get in a lot of trouble for what I have done." He paused for a second to glance over at Hinata. He shook his head. "But I cannot allow you to be in pain any longer. Perhaps someday, Hinata-sama, you will understand what I have done. Then, maybe you will forgive me. But until then, I will accept my punishment as you see necessary."

He paused, letting his glance wander around the scene of their battle. "I shall let you figure out why I have done all of this on your own. We will let fate decide whether you will ever forgive me or not. Just remember this: there are some weaknesses that cannot be fixed through hard work and courage alone. The next time you go into depression, courage is not what you lack …not at all."

Neji looked up towards the sky as the birds flew into his normal vision. He counted the birds as they came to view. When his mind counted eight, he cast his look down towards the crudely drawn seven in the lump of dirt before him.

"Everyone has flaws and everyone has regrets. You should be lucky yours are possible to fix. That is all I ask, my sister."

---

The End


End file.
